Mumbai : The largest lender State Bank of India on Wednesday said it has not received any concrete proposal for additional funds so far from the crisis-ridden Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) group.
SBI holds 6.42 per cent in the IL&FS group that is facing serious liquidity crisis and has defaulted on interest payment on various debt repayments since August 27. The group has over Rs 91,000 crore in debt.
“There is no concrete proposal as of now. When I receive a concrete proposal then we will decide,” chairman Rajnish Kumar told reporters when asked whether IL&FS has asked for any funds from the bank. LIC, which is the largest shareholder with over 25 per cent stake, had Tuesday said it wouldn’t allow the group to go belly up.
Kumar, who was talking to reporters after launching a co-branded credit card with Apollo Hospitals, said SBI, being the leader in the industry, will do everything to stabilise the financial markets. “The SBI board will take decisions based in the larger interest of the industry and also to protect our shareholders interest,” Kumar added. IL&FS needs an immediate capital infusion of Rs 3,000 crore and is also planning a Rs 4,500 crore rights issue, but some of the existing shareholders like HDFC is not keen to participate in the issue.
Cong seeks SC-monitored probe into crisis
NEW DELHI: The Congress party demanded a Supreme Court-monitored multi-agency probe into the debt crisis in Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services. IL&FS and its subsidiary IL&FS Financial Services have defaulted multiple times on repayment of debt in the last few weeks, sparking off fears of a liquidity squeeze. “This (the crisis in IL&FS) is bigger than Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi all rolled into one,” Congress Spokesperson Manish Tewari said.
